The demon who never cried
by SilverHunter
Summary: It is said that when the elder of the two brothers stood by his father's lifeless body, bloody and barely alive himself the younger brother stepped onwards and spoke. "Itachi, what do we do now?" There in the ruins of their old home, the elder turned to look at his little brother's dark eyes that betrayed nothing and smiled to him. "We live."
1. Humanworld

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**I know I promised to myself and to all of you that I wouldn't start a new fic but here I am anyway... I just felt like writing something new and this story came up. We will see what happens.**

**Summary: **It is said that when the elder of the two brothers stood by his father's lifeless body, bloody and barely alive himself the younger brother stepped onwards and spoke. "Itachi, what do we do now?"

There in the ruins of their old home, the elder turned to look at his little brother's dark eyes that betrayed nothing and smiled to him. "We live."

**Warnings:** May contain violence, swearing, sexual contents, boy x boy love, bad or just dark humor, angst, mental growing of a character and everything whatever comes to mind. Rated M just in case.

**Facts: **Set in modern day, contains demons and supernatural beings. I do not own Naruto or anything related to it, I do not earn money by doing this, just a smile or two if people like it.

**Character's: **Sasuke, Itachi, Naruto, Deidara and other's who I see fitting as the story goes on.

**Pairings:** Sasuke x Naruto and Itachi x Deidara

**Author note: **This is purely and experiment of mine.

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**The demon who never cried**

Chapter one: Humanworld

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There is a legend pasted on by both humans and demons alike, a tale of a strong demon, one of the strongest of it's kind who was believed to be void of any emotions. It did not matter to him what his father, the sole king of the underworld, made him do for the sake of showing off the strength of his bloodline. His beautiful face did not change even when his body was bathed with blood time after time, leaving only whispers behind. All thought there seemed to be one thing that the young demon was found seeking, a small piece of silent solitude.

His home that was filled with servants, eager to please his every need, did not offer him such thing sadly. His father insisting that both he and his brother stayed with him in their castle. It was a simple statement, a fact that they could not leave without permission but when the older brother was found to do that anyway a fight was unavoidable. The kind demanded to know how long the older had sneaked out of the castle and where had he gone but as his questions remained unanswered he tried to use force instead. The demons of underworld still remember the destruction that followed and the fall of their king.

It is said that when the elder of the two brothers stood by his father's lifeless body, bloody and barely alive himself the younger brother stepped onwards and spoke. "Itachi, what do we do now?" The younger did not know a life different of what he had. His whole life, his whole existence had been to fulfill his father's command, to be his tool. As he stared at the last remains of the reason he had been born his eyes traveled to look at the dark sky that never showed light or warmth. It was just as cruel and distant as his father had ever been.

There in the ruins of their old home, the elder turned to look at his little brother's dark eyes that betrayed nothing and smiled to him. "We live."

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"I do not see how this would be called 'living'." A deep voice said, filling the silence for a moment before it stretched back again, leaving two figures in their own thoughts for the moment.

"I see." It was not an answer, just a statement from the older of the two. There was a rasping sound of clothes and when the other had covered himself up he reached a hand toward the slightly smaller one who was watching the end of the narrow alley between two huge building where they were currently standing.

"Put these on." The other said, demanding calmly his little brother's attention.

"Why should I?"

"Because otherwise you will have trouble blending in. Walking around naked is not something humans are comfortable with." The older brother answered calmly, watching as his little brother finally took the clothes and changed. For a demon's like them the deep darkness was not an obstacle, it was more like a comforting blanket that rested all around them.

"Happy now Itachi?" The younger one asked when he had made sure that all of the clothes were correctly on him, the unfamiliar feeling of so much fabric around him never reaching his face or voice.

"Let's go." Itachi said instead, pulling a hood over his face and watched as his little brother copied the action. Pleased with that he guided them out of the alley and into the dimly lighted street that the other had been watching before.

"Keep close to me Sasuke." Itachi whispered, walking on the other end of the sidewalk so few of the night time travelers could pass them without effort. Sasuke walked quietly behind him, watching the foreign world with something that other's would call small curiosity but what he called knowledge.

It had been only a few hours ago that his brother Itachi had taken down their father and so ending the purpose of his existence. The information was still in the middle of being fully processed inside his mind so he had been open for the information his brother had given him, a change to see a world completely different of their own. He had called it 'the human world'.

How his brother knew of this world was lost to Sasuke, as so was why he had agreed to come here with him. As he watched the weird looking buildings and the strange machines that were both resting on the ground and also moving past them occasionally he found himself disliking the smell they seemed to emit. It somehow reminded him of some kind of poison.

"Those are called cars, people use them to move from one place to another." Itachi said without turning his head to look at his little brother and Sasuke only let a small sound of understanding be heard. The reading of ones emotions or thoughts were not uncommon among the demon kind but Itachi was the only one who could detect even the smallest change in his brothers aura and even read it.

"Itachi, where are we going?" The lack of interest in Sasuke's voice did not fool Itachi, he knew that his little brother only asked something when he felt that he needed information of the situation. It was slightly surprising that the question only came after almost 30 minutes of walking.

"I am going to introduce you to someone. It's not far." the only response Itachi got was a small sound behind him again.

Indeed, it only took them couple more blocks until they finally stopped. It would have been much shorter route if Itachi would have been comfortable at letting his little brother walk among the red and green lights of the traffic but he figured that they would have more time for that later. There would so much he would need to teach for him.

"Here it is." Itachi said out loud when he finally turned around to face his little brother, noticing that those black eyes were memorising the three story high brick building they were currently standing next to. The streetlight behind Itachi gave him a rare glimpse of his brother's face, no matter that he looked like a human right now, he was beautiful. The dark hair that got just under his chin looked almost like it matched the black hoodie Itachi had given him and when those eyes of pure darkness turned to watch him Itachi took notice how much of a contrast his now white skin was to all that blackness. He was rather proud how tall Sasuke was even as a human, being only slightly shorter than him and that lean body that moved gracefully only increased the feel of superior air around him. In that moment Itachi knew that Sasuke would have difficult times 'blending in' among the humans.

"Now Sasuke, I want you to listen at me carefully. Very soon I am going to introduce you to a human that I have known for a while now. You will find that humans are very different of our kind but they are usually harmless. Their actions and words can be irrational and even annoying but you may not harm them, especially this one. If you do, I will not hesitate to hurt you." The silent thread in the final sentence made Sasuke calculate the possible explanations and scenarios in his mind before his answer, making him take a mental note of the fact that his brother was indeed showing hostility toward him that he hardly ever received. He would have to stay on his toes probably for a while if he wanted to avoid losing a limp or two.

"I understand." After the acknowledge of understanding from Sasuke Itachi opened the door and now guided them into a staircase, not bothering to put the lights on they walked to the second floor before stopping again in front of one of the three doors on this floor. The ringing of the doorbell did not make Sasuke flinch but when the door was opened he could not avoid the instinct to lean backward as a mop of blond hair attacked itself on his brother.

"Itachiiiii!" The painfully loud scream echoed in the staircase, earning a dark look from the man that was currently free from the death grip of arms and legs that had wrapped around Itachi.

"Good evening Deidara." The casual sound in his brother's voice was not left unnoticed by Sasuke, as not was the fact that his brother seemed to be suddenly slightly different, by how he did not know.

"Deidara, I would like to introduce you to my brother."

In a blink of an eye the face that had been buried in Itachi's neck was now turned toward Sasuke, making black to meet blue eyes that help such curiosity and surprise in them that Sasuke was sure right then and there that he had never been mentioned. Why should he have?

"You have a brother?!"

"Don't shout Deidara, we are still in the staircase." Itachi said with his usual calmness but Sasuke was sure he saw a hint of a smile on his brother's lips. Even if this one had a much more softer feeling on it, it still made an image of his brother's satisfied face appear on his mind from when his father had finally fallen, the pleasure of killing evident. A demon who smiled was considered a rare thing in their world, especially if he was an Uchiha, and the only accepted time according to their late father was after a fight between a demon of equal strength. Or when you won against all odds.

"Sorry Itachi. Nice to meet ya Sasuke!" The man called Deidara said with the widest smile Sasuke had come across and jumped off from Itachi, letting Sasuke now properly analyze him.

Long blond hair that was pulled mostly in a high ponytail, leaving some to cover the man's left eye. In a certain way it made him seem a little feminine but his body language was clear about that not being the case. His left hand was now placed on his hip, again, too narrow for a girl, and a cocky grin appeared on his lips. It did not seem to bother him that his act to clearly seem tough was broken by his light blue pyjamas with white clouds in them.

"Liking what you see cutie?" Deidara asked with a clear indication of humor in his voice and when Sasuke was finished with his current activities a fine dark eye brown was raised in silent question.

"Let's just get inside Deidara." Itachi spoke, knowing that his brother would not feel the need to answer such a question and walked past the blond into the apartment.

If the act of the human was a slight surprise for Sasuke, then this place where the man seemed to live in was a mystery to him. It was not actually a small one but for one that was used to live in a castle more taller and broader than the whole building that they currently were in it may have seem as such.

It consisted of a tiny hallway with a hanger for coats, kitchen with a small table and living room big enough to fit a tv, big sofa, desk and bookshelf in it. There also seemed to be one more room but it's door was closed so Sasuke assumed that it was the bedroom. For a one passing moment Sasuke had a feeling that this Deidara liked to also have his own privacy, if that truly was the case then maybe they could learn to tolerate each other.

"Please, be at home. Don't brake anything thought or I have to kill you." Deidara said as he walked past the brothers and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the younger one weighing the seriousness of his threat. At first Itachi was not going to say anything but when he saw how concentrated Sasuke seemed he sighed and walked up to his little brother. Before his hand even seemed to have moven, a slight tingling appeared on Sasuke's forehead and he saw Itachi's retreating finger briefly instead.

"He was only joking." Not waiting for an answer Itachi turned and followed Deidara to the kitchen, leaving Sasuke to stand there for a few second before he also started to move.

"What would you two like to drink? I have coffee, tea, coke and some beer if you feel like it." Deidara asked when he finally got a glimpse of Sasuke and reached for his red refrigerator, swaying his hips a little as he bend over.

"No alcohol." Itachi's quick respond made Deidara take a peek of his face and blink once before going back to study the beverages and pulled out a white box out instead.

"Fine then. I assume that tea would be suitable for a man of your kind?" Deidara said with a little smirk and put the box on the table before starting to move around, pair of eyes watching carefully his every move. It would have been as bad as it was if the younger man that was watching him was also completely unmoving, still standing in the doorway like a guard that allowed no one to leave without his permission. It was kind of unsettling.

"Sit down, both of you." Deidara finally said when he was sure that his temper would soon take the best of him. This was his house damn it. Thankfully both of the brothers took their seat in the table of four but Sasuke's eyes still remained on their host. What was lost to the other thought was the slight tilt of an head when the kettle whistled.

After this Sasuke noticed that Deidara added a small metal ball into the kettle and went to study his capinet for something. He remembered that the man had added something inside the ball a little earlier and he figure that those were the ingredients of the tea, to give it it's flavours. Being liven in the castle his whole life Sasuke had never made tea himself, even if he had drank it almost every day between his duties. It was a servants duty to prepare such things so it made Sasuke assume that this man was at least some way a lower being, the fact that he was also a human included.

"Here you go." Deidara downright sang when he finally walked to the table. Happy to be able to sit down next to Itachi, Deidara placed two white clay cups in front of his guest before fetching the kettle and pouring the reddish liquid into their cups, followed by his own. He carefully opened then the mystery box and revealed a something white with red stripes on it's sides that smelled even sweeter than the tea.

"I hope you like strawberry cake!"

The blink in Sasuke's eyes made a small smile appear on his brothers face and he let his eyes remain on his little brothers face as Deidara placed a small plate and a fork next to their cups, matching set of course. What Itachi did not take a notice beforehand was when Deidara left again, just to reappear next to them with a knife, ready to cut the big piece of cake into smaller parts. The slight widening of dark eyes and the gleam that flashed in them was the only indicator of actions that were about to take place but they were enough for Itachi.

"Sasuke, stop!" It was uncommon and actually also a really unpleasant for a demon to use his voice rather than his fists or certain abilities but Itachi knew that right now it was the fastest and safest way to prevent the certain damage from happening.

The wide blue eyes did not know who to watch or rather, demand questions for the strange outburst. All Deidara could do was switch his eyes from Sasuke that had suddenly rose to stand up so quickly that the chair under him had fallen over to Itachi who was watching at his little brother with most stern look on his face that Deidara remembered even seeing. When Sasuke finally removed his gaze from the blond and picket up his chair Itachi seemed to relax also, leaving an opening for one very confused human.

"What the hell man!? Why did you shout?!"

"Because otherwise Sasuke would have attacked you." Itachi said, his usual calmness coming back into his features and raised the cup on his lips, taking a careful and small sip from it.

"Why would have he done that for Christ sake?!" Deidara asked, both shocked and little terrified of the information.

"Because you had a weapon in your hands." The answer made even less sense for the blonde until he noticed Itachi's eyes traveling to the knife he was now gripping with white knuckles. Deidara only blinked as he raised the kitchen utensil slightly.

"I will explain to you later." itachi said after taking an another sip from his tea and then turned to his brother.

"Sasuke, we do not attack humans so lightly here and even when the situation calls for it, you are forbidden to use your demon powers." The calmness of the situation felt rather bizarre to Deidara who found himself listening itachi's words with mild curiosity.

"Why is that Itachi?" Sasuke asked with a voice just as calm as his brother's, his earlier hint of aggression now only a distant memory. In a way he seemed to be closely listening at Itachi's words also.

"Because human's are usually harmless. They are much weaker than us, much, much weaker and their life can end with a single punch of our kind. I have not brought you here to fight."

That made Sasuke's eyes browns form a delicate frown.

"Then why are we here?" It was actually a question that had been waiting for a moment to be heard as it had appeared over and over again in Sasuke's mind when they had arrived to this strange reality. It seemed that nothing here was even close to his home world that he compared it to, except one.

From the moment they had arrived Itachi had taken a role that he was rightfully born with but what he had never shown to Sasuke, a leader's role. It was that fact alone that made Sasuke remain where he now was because it nurtured the need that had been built into him from the very first days of his birth, to follow and obey the king. In his eyes, his brother, was now that king. His brother had fought and defeated the earlier king, their father, and so on had taken their father's place even if the throne was now empty of the presence of the new king.

Maybe it was because of those thoughts that the next words that Itachi spoke seemed to bring a certain feeling near the surface of Sasuke's consciousness, a feeling that was disposed as unnecessary before he even realized what is was; uncertainty. His role was not to doubt but to obey, once again.

"Sasuke, we are here so that I can show you why in their own way, humans are strong. Even stronger than us."

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Reviews? No flames please.

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	2. Learning

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**Author note: **How odd, for some reason the space marks that I made for the story's different fragments were left out in the earlier chapter. I fixed it now so I hope that it's easier to follow now.

Thank you so much for everyone who followed and favorite this story! I hope you like this one also.

**PS**. I still don't own Naruto or anything related to it. I make now money with this.

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**The demon who never cried**

Chapter two: Learning

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The rest of the tea session went rather pleasantly, even if awkwardly. Sasuke said nothing while he sipped his tea, except when the piece of cake was planted in front of him.

"Go on, taste it." Deidara said with a smile that was this time a little forced, the earlier revealing of Sasuke's nature making him be a little vary of the young demon now. After Sasuke had studied the cake for a moment he cut a piece with his fork and placed it in his mouth, aware of the two pairs of eyes watching him with curiosity.

"Well, do you like it? Your brother seems to enjoy pastries so I have tried to keep something sweet for him stored in here just in case." Deidara said and stole a glance from Itachi who said nothing, earning big grin from the blond either way.

"It's far too sweet." Sasuke said after putting his fork down and resumed to just drinking his tea, the piece of cream filled cake forgotten for the rest of the night.

After they had finished Deidara started to wash the dishes, leaving the two brothers in their own wordless conversation. It was only after the last piece of tableware was put away than Deidara felt comfortable enough to talk again.

"Well I don't know about you two but since it's already past midnight and I have school tomorrow I would like to go to sleep. Sasuke, I will bring you a blanked and a pillow for the sofa."

"Sofa?" Sasuke asked, his head tilting again to the left a little as he stared at first at the human and then turned to his brother for answers.

"Deidara only has one bed and so you will have to take the soda, over there." Itachi said and pointed over his shoulder so that Sasuke's eyes could find the beep red thing seen from the doorway. Itachi did his best to hide his little smirk when he rather felt than saw a tingle of disappointment in Sasuke. He did not blame him. He was used to the luxury their father had bathed them with when it came to interior decorations. If he remembered correctly Sasuke's bed had been fitting enough for a royalty. If only Sasuke knew what Itachi had in store for him.

"Here you go Sasuke, all set for the night. Crawl in when you two are ready Itachi." Deidara said when he had planted the rather fluffy looking floral blanket and pig black pillow on the sofa and Sasuke assumed that when he had started to walk toward them Deidara would just slip into his closed bedroom but instead he walked straight to Itachi and planted a kiss on his pale cheek before disappearing. The gesture was not completely unfamiliar to Sasuke, he knew the basic meaning of it, and because of that he decided to let his eye brown rose up in silent question the second time that day.

Itachi who was actually rather enjoying himself was a little sad that he no longer had the cup of tea to help him casually prolong the silence, his little brother's unawareness to the situation was just too cute.

"Is something wrong Sasuke?" This moment was something Itachi wanted to remember the rest of his life.

"Why did he do that?" The hidden confusion was just too damn cute.

"Do what Sasuke?" He wanted Sasuke to say the words himself.

"Kiss you." And there they were.

The tension that was always existing in their body language was momentarily lessened on Itachi's shoulders as he leaned into the back rest of his chair, this time allowing the small smile to be shown.

"Sasuke, you will find out that humans do very strange things in a very strange times. There will be many moments when their actions make no sense to you. In those moment's I want you to remember what I will be now telling you. Humans do now know of our existence or do they know of ways that is ours. For them we are just monsters of their own imagination, from old legends and even stories that parents tell to their children… And that is how it should be."

For many times Sasuke had listened at his father, memorizing the information given to him and then tested for his understanding. The beating he had received when it had come out in few cases that he did not learn something in the first hearing had been severely but even more severe had been the punishment when he had opened his mouth during the explanation and openly questioned it. Even so Sasuke felt that he needed to ask anyway.

"Why?"

Itachi's smile only widened a fraction.

"Because, like I had said earlier, they are different from us. They don't have any special abilities or do they match us even in their physical strength. Their power lies in their mind and the way they act and think."

Letting his words sink in Itachi decided to remain quiet for a short moment, memories flashing behind his flashes as he closed his eyes.

"You and me both have our whole life been learning how to use our abilities to the extreme but the same time one thing was ignored as unnecessary, creating a disadvantage that could be used against us."

It had been a long time since Itachi had first wanted to share these words with his brother and he planned to take this even further, he wanted to teach Sasuke everything he had come to learn.

"What was that?" The question that Sasuke asked surprised Itachi, not because of it's content but because Sasuke was the one who had decided to ask it. Maybe his brother was not as far gone as he had believed.

"Lack of thinking, with our own mind." He said as he slowly opened his eyes in order to meet his brother's analyzing gaze and he knew from the air of silence that fell on them that Sasuke was actually thinking about what he had just said. With that he deemed his work done for today.

"Sasuke, It has been a rather long day and my body is still recovering from the injuries I received. That is why I will now retreat to rest and I ask you to go to sleep also. Or at least try to." Itachi said as he stood and with a final meeting of an eyes he turned around, walking to the door that now remained slightly open rather than fully closed. Soft breathing could be heard inside and that was why he used all of his skills to remain completely silent as he closed the door soundlessly, disposing of the clothes that he had borrowed from the very man that now slept in front of him.

After he was done he climbed on the double bed just as carefully, lifting the massive blanket up so that he could take shelter of it's warmth. He was not against the of the body that sneaked closer to him either.

"You finally did it eh?" Deidara's soft voice spoke, heavy from need to sleep and from emotion.

"It was not easy but thankfully he didn't struggle much." Itachi whispered back and watched his lovers face that looked at him lovingly in the darkness.

"Are you talking about your father? Or about Sasuke." Deidara asked gently as he raised his hand to touch Itachi's cheek, enjoying it when he was pulled against the other's chest.

"Both."

A kiss was planted to the other's chin, followed by a kiss to the other's forehead before they both relaxed in each other's arms.

"Good night Itachi."

"Good night Dei."

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The next morning Deidara woke up alone in his bed, leaving him wondering if what happened last night had only been a dream. He was not unused at waking up alone during the times that Itachi was absent but it still made him feel a slight pinch in his chest every time. That was why he lazily shut down the alarm clock that was causing the disturb of his sleep and stretched before leaving his pillowed heaven. He was not a morning person by any means and everyone who knew him also knew that there was no sense of telling him anything before he had taken his shower and cup of coffee.

As Deidara crankily made his way across his room he crapped a fluffy white towel next to his door. His brain did not register the movement in his kitchen but it did register the delicious aroma that floated in the air, making Deidara stop and turn his head to meet two sets of black eyes staring at him in return.

"Good morning Deidara. I hope you don't mind that I already made some coffee for us." Itachi said as he was just about to place a cup in front of Sasuke who was currently sitting in the same place on the table where he had been last night when Deidara had gone to bed.

"You are still here?" Deidara knew that his question may have seemed rude but Itachi's knowing smile made the pinch in his chest finally disappear.

"Yes. Now go on and take your shower. We will talk in a minute." Itachi said and all Deidara could do was nod in acknowledge before disappearing into the small bathroom that was built between the kitchen and the front door. He usually enjoyed his morning showers but this time he just simply washed himself, brushed his teeth and dried himself up as quickly as he could. He wrapped the towel around his waist when he was done and exited the bathroom to go and put his clothes on.

"That was fast." Itachi pointed out with little hint of amusement in his voice when Deidara joined then in the kitchen, now dressed in light brown khaki pants, white t-shirt with a V-neck and the black hoodie that Itachi had worn yesterday when they had arrived witch meant that Itachi on the other hand was now wearing only the black t-shirt that he had borrowed for him a while back with pair of black dress pants. Deidara did not hide the lust full look in his eyes as he took in the sight before sitting down.

"I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't disappear again."

"Well, it seems that I am not leaving for a while now Dei." Itachi said and Deidara's eyes immediately sought to stare at his lover with such happiness that Itachi almost wanted to look away.

"Really?"

"Really, If you will let us stay with you for a while until we can get a place of our own." Itachi said and even before he could fully finish his sentence a pair of surprisingly strong arms had wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling their bodies so close and letting that smell of his human partner full his senses. It seemed that no matter how many times the blond hold onto him it always made him feel like it was their first time being so close with each other's.

"Stay. Stay and never leave again..." As when the arms that had trapped the older demon in their embrace were strong the voice that spoke was the gentlest of all, like a whisper to the stars and just like those stars Itachi remained silent. It was something they had discussed many times but just as much Deidara wanted this man remain in his side he also knew that there were many things Itachi had not told him about, obstacles that he was ready to share with him yet. Still, he had not given up hope, especially now when Itachi had brought Sasuke with him. He would just need to be patient, even if it was not his greatest virtue.

"I should get going or I am going to miss the first class." Deidara finally said, ending their hug and walking to the fridge to get a sandwich that he had prepared for himself before the two brother's had arrived. Not feeling up to it he avoided Sasuke's eyes and after getting what he wanted he hurried to the front door, quickly putting his black coat on and taking the bag that contained all of the material he needed today.

"I will be back around afternoon! Behave you two!" He shouted and was just about to hurry off when he saw Itachi's head appear from the kitchen, stopping him on his tracks.

"Dei, could I ask you a favor? I am going to start teaching Sasuke the basics, starting from writing and reading your language. Knowing him we will probably be ready when you get back so would you bring books about different fields? Math, physics, biology, chemistry, history, geography and other's you can think of. I will make it up to you."

Deidara blinked, Itachi was going to teach Sasuke both writing and reading in just eight hours? He wanted to laugh but when a memory of Itachi back when they had first met flashed before his eyes his laughter died in his throat.

"Sure, no problem. See ya!"

If Sasuke was anything like his brother then his learning abilities and concentration were nothing to laugh at.

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Indeed, the fast pace of Itachi's teaching and Sasuke's learning came as a surprise for Deidara after all. For a week the blond always saw Sasuke reading, books after books, stopped only when it was time to eat. Sometimes Itachi would question Sasuke of what he had just read and sometimes Deidara asked him, leaving the other pleased with the results and the other completely speechless. He guessed it was a demon thing. Still the progress that the younger brother had managed to pull off in such a short time was unnatural but that was not the only thing.

During that week Itachi did not set a foot out of the apartment and neither did Sasuke. It seemed that Itachi was actually rather worried for Sasuke's ability to be able to be around humans, and it was justified, since Sasuke was still struggling with even if it was only Deidara in the room with them. He kept his responses to pure minimum or just simply ignored the man's existence, pissing the blonde off more times he could already count. It was always up to Itachi to save the situation, calming Dei with his little caresses and wise words, trying to explain time after time why they needed to be patient.

"He does not know how to interact with others or what it's like to make his own decisions." Itachi said softly once again after Deidara had tried to talk to Sasuke, leaving the blond more than a little irritated when he realized that he had been completely ignored and then retreated into the kitchen. Itachi who had been in the room, reading his own book, decided that it was best to comfort his lover. As Itachi leaned his head to rest against Deidara's, his arms wrapped around the slightly smaller man's waist, a thoughtful expression appeared suddenly on the blonds face.

"Then why not give it to him?"

The way Deidara said it made Itachi look at him and blink. It sounded so easy, so casual when the other said it and Itachi resisted the need to roll his eyes. He had thought that Deidara would have understood by now, after living with them for a week that things that most considered to be normal, where nothing but that for the younger raven head that was reading quietly in the living room. Even so, it raised the elder's curiosity, even if just a little.

"How?" Itachi asked, the small tilt of head was so subtle that it was almost unnoticeable and yet so familiar for the blond. It sometimes made Deidara bite his lower lip so he could suppress his laughter when both of the brother's did it at the same time.

"Make him find a job. Nothing too difficult but something simple with orders you think he can follow easily." Again, that carefree tone of Deidara's made Itachi's muscle relax but his mind screaming with uncertainty.

"It is an interesting idea. But there are risks by doing that."

"Yeah, so? He will never learn to interact if he is always locket up. You wanted to show him the human world so why not do just that?"

Itachi had to admit that Deidara was right. He had also wondered for few days now how he could make Sasuke more familiar with the concept of humans and human world, now that he knew the theories that was, but the idea of leaving Sasuke alone with people he didn't know was disturbing.

"I will have to consider that." Itachi said quietly, suddenly fearing that Sasuke's sensitive ears had been listening at them the whole time. It was very plausible.

"Sasuke?" he needed to approach this carefully but truthfully. It was time for Sasuke to start considering his own life himself.

"Yes brother?"

"What do you say about the idea of you working among the humans?" The silence that followed his question made Itachi turn carefully around to meet his little brother's eyes. Sasuke's calm face gave nothing away this time as he seemed to consider his brother's words.

"What kind of job?" He asked finally, his eyes now glued into Itachi's. It was very weak but Itachi could still sense it, Sasuke did not like the idea.

It took Itachi almost a minute to think all of the possibilities, remembering all of the minor jobs he had seen or heard about but the fear that was lurking deep inside him made him unable to answer at Sasuke's question. The more he thought about it, the more the hair in the back of his neck started to rise up. He was so close to telling Sasuke that he should forget it, forget that he ever asked something so stupid but when he heard Deidara's voice he knew that they couldn't go back.

"How about, a salesman in some local store? Or cashier in small restaurant?"

The look on Itachi's told all there was to say when he turned to watch Deidara.

"Oookei, not those then. Cleaner?" That got a response even from Sasuke, a low growl. That combined with Itachi's narrowed eyes made Deidara want to quickly leave the room and the next words came out of his mouth almost too fast to be understood.

"Then how about storage worker?"

For that, the dark shadows that had appeared on the elder brother's face seemed to disappear. Storage worker? Itachi searched within his mind everything he knew about a job like that and for a moment just stared at Deidara, weighing in the good and the bad. Slowly a small smile appeared. That could actually work.

"Sasuke, tomorrow we are going to look for a job for you."

It was time for Sasuke to learn what it was like to truly live in this world.

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Way to go Itachi for letting SASUKE decide. Well it will be for his own good, maybe. I was thinking of writing the next chapter halfway or fully in Sasuke's POV, what do you think? Do you want to know what's actually going on in that head of his?

Please review if you like the story so far.

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	3. The Job

Huge thanks for all of you who started to follow, favorite and alert this story! Special thanks for you who review! I am so sorry that I didn't thank you personally and so if you have some special wishes for the story or the next chapter's, please tell me and I will see what can be done. Now, please enjoy!

I do not own Naruto or anything related to it. I make no money out of this.

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**The demon who never cried**

Chapter two: The job

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I do not understand what has come of my brother. He has taken actions that do not seem rational in my eyes. It is true that I have never found his actions very reasonable as he did ignore our father's will more than once. For that reason, and for many others, it is strange for me how he was allowed to act as he did.

When I was little my father always either kept me by his side, teaching me how to become stronger, or he left me with my teacher, Orochimaru. There was hardly a moment where I could just sit and drink tea in the dining area where I had come to notice my brother silently sitting many times. I remember how he usually would turn toward me just enough that our eyes would meet, before he turned to watch the grey sky from the tall windows which decorated the other side of the room. It was like he saw something there that I couldn't, no matter how much I stared at it from my own bedroom window.

It always seemed that Itachi and I were different, maybe even from the moment of our birth. I do not know how much he remembers of our mother, I see only a shadow when I think of her, a shadow with a smile that I have yet not seen on anyone else. I still find myself remembering that smile sometimes, keeping it alive the only way I can. She has been gone a very long time now.

Just like Itachi was, but he came back.

The concept of time is rather loose for us demons for different reasons, one of them being that because the sky never changes in our world, we do not usually have clear patterns to specify the length of one day. We simply go rest when we feel the need to, or in my case, when we have permission for it. I have seen other's collapse and even die because of exhaustion. Thankfully my father never wished such fate for me so when my teacher saw that my movements had become slightly sluggish he would stop the exercise and send me off to rest. He took great care of my wellbeing. I am not sure if my brother things the same way.

"This is the place Sasuke."

I was not fully sure why Itachi found it necessary to say even the obvious things out loud now a days, or why he found it necessary to accompany me here. I may not see the reason for this but I would have not run away if that is what he was afraid of. Getting this job was not an direct order but the concept of hiding my true self and avoiding any use of our natural gifts was very clear. I think the reason behind this was something like what he explained to me earlier, that humans are actually unaware that us demons do exist. How ignorant of them.

"Go on, they are waiting for you Sasuke. When you are done, come back here. We have things to do after this." That was not something I was expecting.

"You will stay here and wait for me? Why would you do something like that?" I asked as I turned to look at my brother, being careful that the hood of my black hoodie still shielded my eyes from the bright afternoon sun. I have always had sensitive eyes.

"We will need to go grocery shopping afterwards." I could only blink at his response and glance at the massive entrance of the massive store that we were currently standing in front of. I wanted to, and almost did, say that he could do this 'shopping' thing while I was talking with the humans but managed to bite my teeth together before any sound came out. It had become a habit of mine that I learned in my early years.

"Fine." It was all I felt I needed to say and walked to the doors, watching how they parted their ways even if I didn't touch them. Interesting.

"Remember what I taught you Sasuke." Itachi said but this time I did not say anything or even turn toward him. He knew I heard him. He should also know me better than that, I never forget.

When I had stepped inside I glanced around me, taking note of the estimated size of the building. It had to be at least near the size of my father's castle, even if this one was all in one layer. There was wide space that reminded me of an open hallway going on both of my sides where people were walking and talking with themselves, or with someone else. I already disliked the number of them. Then there were these weird metal boxes, kind of, in a wide row in front of me. There had to be dozens of them. Between them were two kinds of people, those who seemed to be moving and those who stayed in one place. If I heard right, the ones that stayed in place greeted every single person that came to them and then seemed to move some supplies from one place into another. Something seemed to be passed on between the two. It may be that money what Deidara was talking yesterday with Itachi. It seems that it's necessary in this world.

Talking about necessary things, I was meant to find the boss of this place.

Usually when I was meant to find a certain someone, or something, I was given a proper description of the target. Needless to say that I found it slightly irritating and also highly inconvenient that no such thing were told me this time. All that was said, was that I should either find a person who was already currently working here or something called "Information desk".

It was like the situation I was currently in wasn't already somewhat enough disadvantage for me because of the lack of information, it seemed that the humans of this place weren't too keen on me. Not like I liked them thought. Even so, I found their staring and whispers even more annoying than their constant swarming from one place to another. Didn't they realize that I could see them looking and pointing at me? If they believed for a moment that they were being subtle with their actions they were utterly wrong.

It was not until thought, when I heard a young human boy ask her mother a question that I understood exactly why I received such attention.

"Mommy, why is that dark man standing there? He is scary. I can't even see his face."

It appears that humans do not like it when someone just stands still. For my kind it is not unfamiliar, it is actually considered polite to examine the new areas in a peaceful way. It indicates that we respect the leader of the place and mean no harm. The fear that comes from not seeing your opponents face thought is something that even I understand. I think I will need to play by their rule with this one, my eye's should be safe enough.

Carefully, as not to frighten more of the people around me, I took my hands out of my pocket and reached them toward my face. It was interesting to see how few people even stopped on their tracks, just so that they could see what I was doing. Even more interesting were the reactions of many around me when I carefully pulled the hood off my head. If there had been whispers before, no there were almost ten times more. I think that I heard few of the females gasping, shielding their mouth for some reason and saying words that baffled me. Humans really are strange.

"He is gorgeous!"

"Someone that beautiful can't be a criminal."

"I bet he is a model!"

"I have to know his name!"

While I do not understand the need for such ruckus, the attention was not particularly new for me.

While my father was very stoic and well controlled man, he sometimes asked for the "assistance" of the female servants of our house. He sometimes gave me the task to bring them to him. They were usually quiet, being careful not to step out of place in fear of being punished, but sometimes they would act or say something that would stay in my mind for a long time.

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_Time flash_

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_The dimly lit hallway was just as quiet as it was dark, only a few candles lighting the way of two figures walking toward the other end. No words were spoken, they were not needed. All that had been said was the command to follow by the dark haired male to the red haired female. _

_It had surprised the slender demon to be called, by the younger son of the king none the less. She had immediately dropped the dishes she had been cleaning, knowing that when an order was given, there was no time to hesitate. She did not even glance back at the other female servants that were left to fulfill their duties when his dark eyes had landed on her and he had spoken, his voice echoing from the walls like a sin of the night itself._

_No one of the servants had heard or seen him appearing, not until he had made his presence known by releasing some of his hidden energy. In that moment, in all of their eyes, the only thing that they could focus on was the demon male that was a mystery to every single one of them. _

_There was a glint of hope in her big green eyes as they walked, not daring to look directly at the male but taking careful glances from time to time. Even if all she saw was his behind, the way the light caressed those strong shoulders and that midnight hair, she couldn't help but to blush when she imagined her own fingers running over the skin of her master. _

_It was a dream that all of the females in the castle shared, and what they often talked about so that they could get a little enjoyment between their hard work, dream of becoming a partner of the royal family. They knew that the two sons of the king had not yet chosen a lover, a mate or even one to satisfy their needs. Such thing was unheard of but even more so it gave the servants hope, hope that someday maybe one of them would be the one to melt that cold outer shell that always surrounded the two extremely powerful and attractive males. _

_To be protected was the most basic desire of young females, a secret that was many times left unsaid because usually the males were much more brutal than they were caring. If you didn't grow touch enough, you would not last long. It was the rule of their world. _

_**The one that is stronger, has the right to command the weaker. **__That was the second rule. So when the red haired female servant noticed that they had stopped in front of big wooden doors with detailed engraving and golden designs she was reminded of her own place. All of the hope that had been within her mind was washed away as she watched that slender arm reached out to knock on the doors, barely touching it and yet still making the mahogany wood cry out under his fingers. _

_There was no sound coming from the other side but she knew that such thing was not needed, as not were any final word for her from the silent male that turned and started to walk away. All she could do was swallow the disappointment while she watched how the male of her dreams left her. _

"_I wish that someday someone will be able to warm your heart." She whispered before he disappeared completely, not waiting or expecting an answer but as she opened the door, she failed to see how those dark eyes finally turned to watch her just before she entered the kings bedroom._

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_End of time flash_

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That time was one of those. I still do not understand why she decided to say such thing or what she meant by it. My heart is as warm as it should be, in it's realistic content, any more and I would be having difficulties breathing or functioning normally. It seems that according to female behavior, be it a demon or human, they make just as little sense.

Still, even if I knew that it shouldn't have bothered me, I found myself thinking back of her words sometimes. Sometimes even in situations that had no reason to bring that partial memory up from within my mind, like now. It was also a reason why I found certain abilities that my father and my teacher had helped me to master, rather useful. Emptying your mind was one of them.

"Hello, can I help you with something?" The words, spoken now much closer to my personal space than I would have liked, reached me beyond my memories, bulling me out of them. How shameful of me to space out like that.

As not to startle the human, now standing few feet from me, I slowly turned my head toward her and was met with equally green eyes as the demon female in my memories. The hair of this human was not bright red thought, it was pink. What an odd color.

"Where is the information desk?" I asked, keeping my face and voice neutral but the reactions that it seemed to have in the human still was in my own mind, unnecessary. As a demon, my senses are in a completely different level, according to Itachi. That includes all of the five basic senses of human also, not to mention the six sense, so when the smell of her hormones reached me all I wanted to do was walk away right away. The sight of her eyes widening, her back straightening and her slightly open mouth only made her seem even more unappealing for me, not to mention stupid. I had no desire to breed her.

For a moment I just watched her staring at me, her eyes moving along almost every inch of my face. If there had been some color on her cheeks before, it seemed that it only became more vibrant with every shaky breath she took.

"O-over there." Her stutter only annoyed me slightly more and when my head turned to the side, toward the other end of the hallway where I was still standing and where she was pointing with her equally pink fingernails, I saw the letters that I had come to memorize. Without a another word I started walking toward there, forgetting and leaving the human standing there like a fish in a dry land, gasping for air.

I had a feeling that this was going to be a long day.

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"So, Mr. Uchiha, what makes you interested in this job?"

I wanted to say that it was because of my brother, that he had insisted of me doing this, but I also knew that that was forbidden. Itachi had made a full list of things that I would need to abstain of saying but as I thought of an answer it now seemed fortunate that he had also made a list of thing I SHOULD say. One of them being, that I would give a second name with my own, a family name he called it. Apparently it was essential in this world.

"I think I have qualities that are ideal for it. I have extraordinary good memory, I have the physical strength for it and the intelligence to solve problems on my own." The surprised look in the other man's face was evident.

"I see. Do you find yourself hard worker?"

I almost wanted to laugh at his question, finding a piece of dark and sharp humor in it. Hard working? I had never participated in the games of different kind of betting that many other demons seemed to enjoy but I had heard of them talking many times about their upcoming missions, wondering what were the odds, that they themselves or others could come back in one piece, alive. For me, there was no need to bet, I was not allowed to fail. If I would have come back, in one piece or not but not completing my mission, the value of my life would have been weighing just as much as cockroach roaming our kitchen. Hard work didn't even describe at what I had gone through.

"Yes."

The look that passed the black haired man's face clearly indicated that he wished me to continue but as I decided to stay quiet, he leaned back on his black leather chair and sighed, raising and examining the piece of paper that Itachi had handed to me and told me to give to the one who would interview me. Apparently it was supposed to help me get this job.

I patiently waited as the man scanned the paper with his brown eyes, his body language relaxed and yet I could feel him watching me with the corner of his eyes. It seems that I am not the only one who keeps up a different appearance.

Not wanting to disturb the man, I found that now was a good change for me to study both him and the office I was currently in.

The room was rather spacious but the small window to my left seemed to make it almost close in on you and the white curtains that were slowly moving because of the wind that blow from the slightly open window didn't do much to make it feel more welcoming. The white walls only brought out the black and brown furniture's out more, the row of bookshelf's on both sides of the room filled with papers in neat order. I was slowly becoming very sure that even if this man, Asuma Sarutobi, second in command in what appeared to be family business, wanted to give off relaxed and laid-back image for others he was actually precise and sharp when it was needed. I found that interesting.

"In your resume it says, Mr. Uchiha, that you have been working under your father's family business. What were your assignment's?"

Again, I was forged to keep my inner thoughts hidden and especially my want to correct his words. They were not particularly assignment's, they were assassinations.

"Mostly I arranged the supplies and kept track of the goods. Occasionally I would also go and negotiate with my coworkers or higher ups about the ongoing business and the risks concerning it." That was one way to put it, a lot cleaner explanation of his earlier works.

The slight widening of eyes did not stay unnoticed.

"That is rather impressive. It makes me almost wonder if you are actually over qualified for the job you are applying right now." The man said as he shifted his gaze from the paper to me and back. If only he had a glue.

"There are a lot of things that I didn't get to learn while working under my father and so I do not think I would be suitable for jobs with more responsibility at the moment. I want to learn as much as I can." There was a lot of truth in my words, in their meant purpose but also in their hidden meaning as well. I have already pointed out that I am not particularly eager for doing this but it is true that I am always looking to improve myself. If there is something that I can learn, especially if it can turn out to be valuable in the future, then I will not hesitate to take part in it. I take great pride of my skills and my ability to learn. It was the few things that my father actually took note of.

"Very well. Are you ready to come and fill in in case we need you? Would you be ready to help also in other duties if needed? Occasionally helping out with the cash registers or customer service? We have a lot of regular employees leaving for summer vacations and the high up's have given me certain number of people we can hire. It's the nation's economy situation, I am sure you understand, so if there are people able to handle many different jobs in the same time it is a big plus." The questions were asked with a smile but the eyes that locked with my own were sharp as blades of my favorite katana.

Somehow I got the feeling that answering in those questions in a certain way would be holding the key point of getting this job and for some reason I suddenly felt rather tired. I suppressed the need to sigh.

If the matter would have been in my own hands, I wouldn't have even been here, much more now considering the information just given to me and it's meaning. I hate to admit but I was not completely sure what the man was talking when it came to the names of other jobs he seemed to be eagerly waiting for me to voice my opinion. Itachi and Deidara had mentioned similar names, I could recall it, and they had seemed rather reluctant to even consider such positions for me. It made me little unsettled but as they had not explained the reasons WHY those other jobs wouldn't suit me I was again left with lacked information. It was starting to, what is the word… annoy me.

I also wasn't thrilled as I realized that this job would not be like my usual ones under my father's command, quick and simple, with clear guidelines and certain ending point.

"I am sure that I can learn what is needed." It was the best answer I could come up but the smile that came to greet me told me that it pleased the human. Why?

As I watched his face I found nothing but kindness and it puzzled me, in a different way than the pieces of information I received and before I knew it, I found the mental imagine of my father's face flashing in front of my eyes. There is no resemblance at all, except for the black hair and even that was questionable due to the short length, so why?

I have questioned it before, as we have continued to stay in this world, but the more I think about it the more I find myself noticing it, among other things. It was starting to be more and more difficult for me to keep my mind blank. There was such so much to learn, so much to take in and so much to memorize and accept. It almost seemed endless but more than that, I was slowly starting to realize that humans were actually rather complicated beings and so was their world. I would probably have to come into terms with it that other's than this man in front of me could trigger memories that I would have rather forgotten.

"It is very good that you seem to have an open mind. That is all I ask. No one can know everything or learn everything but wanting to try is excellent place to start. There is just one more thing that I think I will need to ask from you." I couldn't help but to notice the small widening of his smile as he leaned his bearded chin on his hands, his eyes studying me closely.

"When can you start?"

I cannot deny the slight satisfaction of completing this mission.

"Tomorrow."

"Wonderful! Does 8.00 o clock sound good for you? I will make the contract ready then and see which shifts you could do during this and the next week. We will take it slow at the beginning and I will assist you with a partner who can be your supervisor. Is that okay for you?" It was little strange how exited Mr. Sarutobi had suddenly seemed to get.

"Yes it is."

"Great, see you tomorrow then Mr. Uchiha." He said, getting up from his chair and when I got on my feet as well there was a hand offered to me. The one second it took me to hesitate before I took it and shook his hand firmly didn't seem to bother my new boss.

With a one final small bow I turned around and left the room, leaving to find my brother and tell him the news that I knew he was waiting for.

As I walked toward the front doors where I had come inside the building, I couldn't help but to wonder one thing.

Would these humans continue to constantly stare at me like that from now on? The thought of it made a shiver run along my spine.

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I am sorry, I was actually planning to make this chapter longer but this just seemed a good place to end it. I hope that this gave you a little insight of what's going inside Sasuke's head. The next chapter will finally have Naruto in it and their first meeting! I am little curious of writing it and especially in Naruto's POV, in order to let you all see where he kinda stands on. What do you think? Do you want the next chapter to be in Naruto's point of view or just them in general?

Oh and just in case you are thinking, Naruto is not going to be Sasuke's supervisor ; )

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	4. Blue eyes

Hello everyone! Sorry it took me a while to get this done but I had to figure out where to exactly take the story and if I wanted it to be more humorous than serious. In the end I decided to mix a little pit of both. I am really surprised at just how long this chapter suddenly got, it actually could be my personal record for now, but I felt that there was no need to cut it shorter so I left it like this.

Warnings: there will be cursing in this chapter.

Enjoy!

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**The demon who never cried**

Chapter four: Blue eyes

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The rest of the day went by just like all the earlier one's while we had been in this world, Itachi keeping a close eye on me and pretending that it was simply because he wanted to teach me everything I needed to know. It made no sense to me.

Itachi didn't never really teach me anything while I was growing up, that job had belonged to Orochimaru and the other members of father's laborer's or even members of his army. I take it that Itachi's interest in teaching me now must have been because he knew that no one among those that belonged to the court, working directly under my father, had never told me anything about the human world. Except for the fact that it existed.

Still, while we were shopping, Itachi made an effort to explain every single thing he possibly could. I could feel many eyes on us as he explained names of different plants that were edible while we walked, Itachi pushing this weird metal trolley along us and put every item in there along the way. Apparently this place was where humans bought all their supplies. I didn't like it.

Since the moment I had walked out of the building where I was supposed to start working tomorrow I had pulled the hood again over my head. Why so, I wonder. It might have been because of all the attention those humans were giving me, staring so openly and some even tried to talk to me. It was making me feel, uncomfortable.

"Sasuke, are you even listening to me?"

My eyes that had been resting on the odd looking thing, that appeared to be some king of fruit, snapped back at my brother instantly. Even if his voice had been neutral, I could see slight amusement in his black eyes as he watched me and then the fruit.

"That is called pineapple. Do you want it?"

"No thank you." It was an instant answer, one that did not need thinking or calculating. What would I do with something like that?

"Fine then. What is next on the list that I gave you?" Itachi said as he turned around and started to walk slowly forward again while I looked at piece off paper that he had made me hold when we fort stepped inside of this place.

"Tomatoes?"

"They are those red one's behind you." Itachi said as he turned and I followed his gaze, just to find mountains of something round and red. If they wouldn't be so shiny I would have thought of them as some kind of meat. I blinked, just once, but that was enough for Itachi. He could see my interest.

"Take as many as you like. What is next in the list?"

"Onions? And also potatoes?"

"I will get those." With those words Itachi left the metal trolley next to me and walked on the other side of the space where all of these plants were in display, leaving me stare between him and the red lumps I was supposed to collect. How?

"_Take as many as you like." _Itachi's words played over and over again in my head, making me wonder just how much of these things I was supposed to take according to the human that waited us back in the apartment. I had no idea how these could be used but Deidara had made every meal for us so far, why wasn't he with us here? I could distantly remember Itachi saying something about school, it seemed that he needed to go there rather regularly. Would I need to go to this Work just as regularly? I would need to ask Itachi when we were ready. Now, back to the matter at hand.

I have noticed many times while I have been on a mission, that if you are unsure of something, examine the target and all the possibilities. It's the unknown that is the most dangerous.

First, get close to the target.

With slow movements I reached my hand up and toward one specially red fruit and carefully let my fingers wrap around it. It was surprisingly smooth and kinda slippery.

Second, test it for poison or other harm full content.

The color and texture seemed strange but not so that it was alerting, it was just as weird as everything else in this world. I gave it a gentle squeeze. It was surprising thought that it didn't seem as hard or heavy as I had first imagined. It reminded me more and more of some kind of piece of meat.

It was very interesting.

I carefully moved the fruit closer to my face, staring at it with curiosity. When it was inched away from my face I decided to take quick sniff on it. Surprisingly the smell was quite frail and being a creature of stronger senses than humans I decided that I liked it.

It had been horrible when Deidara had peeled those Orange's the first time. The corner of my eye twisted just for the memory.

My movements and thoughts stopped when I hear an unfamiliar laugh near me.

"You know, I have never seen anyone so serious about tomatoes before."

I could feel my pupils dilate, my breathing stopping for a moment, as I turned my eyes upward. There, directly opposite me, on the other side of the fruit table stood a young man with wild blond hair. I hadn't even realized that someone else was so close to me.

"Heh, did I surprise you? Sorry man, I couldn't hold it any longer."

I seriously didn't know what to answer to this man, or rather, I didn't even want to.

It was probably very good that the black hood covered most of my face, letting only one eye meet those of the unknown stranger. I have never seen someone wear such a wide smile before, a smile that reached all the way to his eyes. Eyes that were the clearest blue I have ever seen and suddenly I felt my heart start to beat louder, stronger, almost like it was trying to escape.

Those eyes, they were more beautiful than the jewels among my father's treasure room. The shine on them and the depth, it made my breath caught on my throat and suddenly I remembered something. Something I couldn't quite put in place. My eyes saw only blue for the moment, endless blue that glittered and moved. I could almost feel something gently caressing my feet and arms…

"Hey! Do you even hear me man?!"

The surprise was so sudden, I hadn't even realized that I had fallen into a state of oblivious and forgot everything that had even been taught for me, how you should never let your guard down and or space out in front of another being. How shameful. And this was now the segond time I have done it in front of this man.

"Aaa! You are not supposed to do that!"

I blinked. Not supposed to do what?

It took me a moment to realize that I had apparently squeezed the tomato in my hand a little too strongly when the man had surprised me the segond time. I stared at the mushy mess in my hand, it really did remind me of meat, but now it was more like a lump of meat that was torn off from its original carcass. I also noticed that little pieces of the fruit had scattered over the floor, the fruit table and on me as well. It was probably because the tomato in my hand was rather large, larger than many other's in the table.

What I also noticed was the smell, it was understandably now stronger and I found both the texture and the smell fascinating.

"Umm, ano… You have some in your cheek as well." The man said, sounding now a little unsure but his eyes told me that he was amused. He even raised his other arm to point at his own right cheek and smiled to me again. It surprised me a little that I found myself mimicking his gesture.

It seems that he was right, I could feel a little piece of the red mush in my face and I carefully placed it on my finger. As I stared at that little piece of red I felt suddenly something, like a pull, and before I knew it I had put that finger in my mouth, tasting the foreign food.

I could feel the other's eyes on me, staring at me without blinking, and when I slowly took the finger out of my mouth I turned to look at him. Even with half of my face still covered, only one eye meeting his own, I felt more exposed than since the time a servant accidentally walked on me when I was changing my clothes. But then again, changing clothes was normal, this on the other hand, was not something I could explain since I didn't even understand my own actions myself.

Maybe it was because of those eyes, staring at me so openly and without any hesitation, just full of surprise that I found my aura reaching out for my brother. I couldn't explain it but somehow that stare made me really uncomfortable.

"What is going on here?"

My eyes immediately turned to my brother and I could hear a yelp coming from the blond as he turned his head just to find Itachi standing right next to him. Even if Itachi was relaxed, holding what seemed to be two plastic bags of our needed ingredients, I knew that he was fully aware of everything. He had probably been watching us the whole time. It made me even more embarrassed.

"Don't scare people like that! I almost had a heart attack!" The blond shouted suddenly, his voice raised more than just a couple of decibel's, it seems that my brother really sneaked inside his comfort zone.

"I apologize, but if I remember correctly, didn't you surprise my little brother also?" Itachi asked and the humor was not left out from his tone as he sent me a quick glimpse. He was enjoying this.

"Yeah but not on purpose!" The man said, seeming now rather on the defensive side. I briefly wondered why had his cheeks turned slightly more red than before. I remember my brother telling me that humans get sick rather easily, maybe that was the first symptom.

It seemed to surprise both me and the human when a low chuckle left my brother's lips.

"I see, well then, even if this had been a pleasure, we must take our leave." Itachi said politely and slowly walked on the other side of the table, now turning to me while his body was facing the direction we were supposed to go, telling me to wordlessly follow.

Resisting the feeling to look at the human one last time, we left.

I gave the shopping list to Itachi immediately after we had turned around the next corner of many shelf's and pushed the trolley the rest of our visit there, not uttering a word and was grateful that Itachi did the same.

…

* * *

…

After the shopping we returned to the apartment, just to find Deidara eagerly waiting us in the kitchen. He fist complained about us taking too long and that he was hungry as he and Itachi started to unpack the groceries but as his eyes landed on me he blinked.

"What the hell happened to you?"

I studied my form, noticing that he was looking at my other hand, face and also my clothes. My hand was still sticky and now little itchy as well from the tomato juice and I judging from the feeling, there was still some in my face as well. Of course there were stains in my hoodie as well but since it was black it was thankfully not so visible.

"Sasuke got into a little fight with the tomatoes." Itachi said, the sides of his lips turning upward just a little as he looked at me over his shoulder. I kept my face completely neutral and emotionless, I would not give him the pleasure to see that this whole thing was affecting me, no matter how little.

Deidara blinked again and turned his head to look at Itachi and back at me before bursting into a loud laughter, wrapping his arms around his stomach, his shoulders shaking in the progress.

Both me and my brother just looked at him as he laughed, trying to calm himself down but there was considerably warmer look in Itachi's eyes than in mine.

"Oh God! I wish I had been there to see it!" Deidara laughed as he finally managed to speak again and wiped some moisture out from the corner of his eyes, grinning wildly as he straightened his back.

"Itachi, can you put everything in their place as I try to find some clean clothes for Sasuke? I needed to wash that hoodie anyway." Deidara asked and I could see a faint nod from Itachi before Deidara guided me for their bedroom and next to the huge wardrobe with sliding doors that took over one wall's length of the room. I remembered Itachi saying something about Deidara having more clothes than many human women, the blond didn't seem happy about such words.

"It's good that you are almost the same size as me Sasuke but we really need to go and buy you some clothes so that you don't always need to borrow mine. itachi has his own after all." Deidara said while he searched, occasionally taking some clothes out from the shelf's and looking at them for a moment before putting them back. When his hands wrapped around a bright orange t-shirt with a black swirl kind of picture on the front, I felt the corner of my eye twist.

"This would look good on you, you need some color." Deidara said happily as he turned around and was just about to give the piece of fabric to me when his eyes caught sight of the way I stared at the item in his hands. He could have rather been holding a cross covered in virgin blood in my opinion. I would rather walk around naked than put that on.

With a defeated sign Deidara dropped his arms and turned around again, putting the shirt away.

"Fine, what does the prince of the underworld want to wear then?" He asked, not bothering to hide his annoyance and when I didn't answer him for a while he turned his head around to look at me.

"Well?"

There was only one word that came to my mind.

"Black." The look of annoyance changed into one of pure boredom as Deidara stared at me, his shoulders now sinking slightly.

"Should have known, mini-Itachi…" Deidara murmured as he once again concentrated the task at hand while I remained silent and just continued to watch him. He probably meant it as an insult but I actually took it as compliment. Like I have said before, strength is what rule's over our world and since my brother was extremely strong, my goal was to reach his level.

Finally Deidara pulled out a completely black t-shit that looked a little old and bigger than his usual ones and throw it at me. If he thought that I had problem capturing something like that, he was a fool.

"There, black for the black. Do you need new pair of pants as well?" He asked, trying to sound more annoyed than he truly was anymore and after I shook my head he walked to the door.

"The dinner won't take long but you can take a shower if you like." After that he left the room but didn't fully close the door. I considered my options for a moment and decided to take the shower after all. Hot shower had been a luxury in my father's mansion, limited to certain amounts of time when there would be enough water to use it in something else than drinking or preparing meals. Now while being here, I was starting to get used to it.

…

* * *

…

After the shower the food was already prepared and waiting, filling the air with mixture of spices and vegetable's. Deidara explained that it was something caller "curry". Part of my curiosity toward the plate on the table must have been somehow clear enough for Itachi to sense it as he offered me small but sincere smile as I sat down.

During the meal Deidara and Itachi once again made light conversation while I stayed silent, partly listening their talk while consuming the food, one mouthful at time. I had no interest to participate about their conversation which consisted of Deidara's school and his classmates.

The food was actually surprisingly tasty. I liked how it seemed to burn inside my mouth, leaving me wondering how long it had been now that I had practiced our clan's secret techniques. I would have to ask for Itachi's permission later to spend some time training myself. We would probably need to find a relatively secure place, away from any possible humans and their ways of sticking their noses into places where they had no business. Didn't humans realize that by doing so they put themselves in great risk?

My thoughts were interrupted as I sensed eyes on me.

Stopping my hand halfway on the air and turning my gaze into the blue one's ahead I was met with Deidara's grinning face. I merely raised one delicate eye brown at him in silent question.

"I am just happy that you seem to like the food. This is actually the first time you have eaten the whole plate." He stated, his voice sounding rather joyful for a reason that in my eyes seemed really simple.

I saw no reason to answer him as he had simply stated his words, not sounding the slightest interested to hear my opinion on the matter, and simply resumed eating. I noticed that his grin only widened. Humans really were simple.

It took me no more than few minutes to finish my meal and after that it was my turn to do something that Itachi called: "housework". Today it was doing the dishes.

…

* * *

…

Later on in the evening I had once again obtained my usual place in the couch, reading quietly my newest book, about World War two, when I found my mind starting to take a note of what I was reading and then wonder.

It has come to my knowledge that even if this place seemed to now be quite peacefull, at least the area where we were at the moment, there were really dark matters in the human history. Some of the things and events that seemingly had taken place in the past, were cruel enough to make me wonder about the blood thirst of the humankind. Or at least some of its members.

Itachi had been right that I would find this book and the one before this, containing the information about the World War 1, rather interesting.

To hear that these humans, that were mostly so oblivious about demons and their existence, could be capable of killing so much of its own kind was intriguing. I even found myself comparing our two worlds.

It also made reconsider the differences in our systems, the laws and the scale which determined ones status and power.

While the human world was much more shattered, each country separated to its own, in every land that carried the weight of its people and their future, were a punch of selected people that decided what the others under them needed to do in order to maintain their place and their rights. The biggest difference to that is that in our words, instead of many, there is only one who has the power to decide the fate of other's and that is the King. But by that I don't mean the fate of every single being in our world.

I mean the right to decide which clan to eliminate, which town to be destroyed and the right to decide what kind of punishment those who have gone against our laws or who have betrayed the trust of our ruler will receive. My father had been the King as long as I could remember so I do not know for sure but I heard from some of the oldest members of our castle that he had been one of the most ruthless, never listening excuses or never listening any pleads. The outcome was always the same, execution.

It made me briefly wonder how Itachi would act in similar circumstances but that thought was quickly pushed aside, it was not my place to take any part of the decisions he made. I would just be the one to deliver them.

That brought me thinking about my brother, about his actions in the time we had been together here and even before it.

Sometimes I had heard people speaking about him, calling him an enigma, as no one could ever know what he did the time he was away from the castle. Many even wondered about what he did when we was in the castle. Even I was unsure.

Had he really been here all that time when he was away? With that human? Why?

The more I thought about it, about my brother, I found that more and more questions appeared.

Among those questions was one that I found entering my mind more frequently than I would have liked. What could he obtain from bringing me here?

The more time went by, the more I started to believe that he indeed does have a hidden motive. What it would it turn out to be, that still lay in the darkness and it made me uneasy. His constant monitoring, teaching and even the fact that he had hardly left my side was starting to affect me. Being one that found comfort in solitude, the lack of personal space had made me unintentionally become tense.

From the very start it had felt like the thin bond between us had become even more strained, causing both of us to stay constantly on alert. The human, Deidara, seemed oblivious about the tension between me and Itachi but it didn't really surprise me. Like I said before, humans have much more dulled senses than us demons have. Still, it was interesting how Deidara seemed to pick up the slight difference in Itachi, just like tonight. It was not my intention to eavesdrop but in the small apartment it was unavoidable, the walls were also thin enough that my sharpened hearing could pick up the conversations in the surrounding apartments.

"Itachi, you look tired. Is everything okay?" There was certain softness in Deidara's voice as he spoke, that came out only when they were alone, usually earning just as soft response from my brother that confused me no matter how many times he spoke.

"I am fine." It was Itachi's standard respond, just like was the small silence that followed. The next words instead were not what I had anticipated from the blond.

"Stop talking bullshit Itachi." That tone, it made me want to walk over there and smash that face, that my brother seemed to value, into the nearest surface. How could he allow that, that maggot, to talk to him like that?!

It was only because of itachi's earlier threats that I managed to stay down where I was.

I didn't dare to move my eyes from its page's in fear of lashing out. Itachi had said it, ordered me, not to harm that human or any human here actually. It was one of those many rules that he had laid on me, saying that I could not ever brake them and the seriousness in him as he spoke me back them still haunted me in a way. It had been different from all the other information he had laid on me, telling me to follow them. I do not know if it was because he actually understood how hard it was for me to fulfill that order that now went against all that I had been trained and taught to do and how to act. I wonder if it had been the same for him when he first came here.

"What is it that you wish to hear, Dei?" This time I could hear a slight strain in Itachi's voice as he spoke and it eased the frustration in me. It seemed that Itachi had not liked the way the human had spoken to him either.

"I want you to stop acting. I can tell just how stressed you are. You have hardly smiled since you came here. All you do is teach Sasuke, take care of Sasuke and no matter how much you try to pretend, I know that you have hardly slept at all during this week." To say that Sasuke was surprised was understatement. He had never heard anyone else than himself to notice the slight differences in his brother. Itachi was very careful to hide his thoughts, his wellbeing and his feelings. Itachi was known to be just as unreadable as I am told to be. How could a mere human see all that?

Judging from the silence I figured that Deidara's observation skills had surprised Itachi also. My brother is known to be a man of few words but to actually leave him speechless is something to be proud of. It made me turn my eyes up from the letter's I wasn't really seeing anymore and turn my head toward the direction where I know those two were, in the bedroom.

"Dei…" That soft whisper of name, change in the air, was something I had never heard from Itachi. Something was happening, something I could not understand.

"Just… Stop Itachi. I know. I can see it in you, just how much you are trying and how it's affecting you. You are not well…" Before Deidara even had time to finish his sentence I found my body already moving, taking steps that carried me to the bedroom door faster than one could follow but when I was about to open the door I stopped, my hand holding the handle but not moving it. The human was sobbing.

"What did he do to you?! I can tell that you are still hurting and don't you dare to deny it! Did you even clean your wounds? Bandage them? Did you find someone to fix your broken bones? Or did you just come here right after you killed him?..." I carefully listened how the anger and anguish in the humans voice changed into something else, something that made my chest hurt.

As I listened the silence that followed, I recalled the events after father's death and found that Deidara was actually right. I could not recall any indications that Itachi would have taken care of his wounds or let anyone else do it for him. After he had made sure that our father was truly gone, he had simply come to me, telling me that we would be leaving from here. The teleportation had been fast and he had not given me any indications where we would be going, just that we needed to leave immediately. I still found it troubling, like there was something important that he was keeping from me. Now I was sure that it was the case, in more ways than one.

Why had he been so desperate to get us out of there so fast? Up until now I had not really thought of it. At first I had simply assumed that it was because he wanted the tittle that our father possessed but now I truly questioned it.

"Please Itachi… Let me see the damage."

What was it that Itachi was hiding from me…

"Itachi…"

What is it…

"Dei, Sasuke is…"

"I DON'T CARE! Why is it always Sasuke?! What about me?!"

Human, what are you talking about?

"What about yourself?!"

You don't make any sense. Stop it, stop yelling already.

"When are YOU going to LIVE, Itachi!"

Live? What are talking about, my brother is alive, isn't he?

"Dei… Stop it." That's my brother's voice. Why does it sound so, stretched?

"NO! I…"

"I told you to stop it!"

I didn't need to see them to know the look that the human was now carrying, I could sense it, a look of disbelief. It is unusual for my brother to raise his voice, it might have even been the first time he has done it for this human. That can only mean one thing…

"Dei, I am not doing this just for Sasuke's sake… You if anyone should know it."

Itachi, he…

"Dei…"

"Don't touch me?!"

The door flew open, hitting the side wall with a loud bang, and I saw the human on the other side. That human, fragile an annoying human, who brother had never mentioned to me before, now appeared before me. Those blue eyes that had looked me full of curiosity when we had arrived now looked me with surprise for a segond before it turned into something much darker. It was strange thing to see, to watch. I remembered the blue eyes that I had laid my eyes today before and for some reason I longed to see those again.

I know that Deidara had not realized that I was standing behind the door but now when we were standing just few feet away from each other, he seemed to come to conclusion of the matter. The politeness toward me that he had tried to maintain after we had arrived was now gone, melting away with each passing moment and so was the silent acceptance of my existence in his own space also, I could feel it. The anger he had been keeping bottled up inside finally raising toward the surface.

"You… It's all your fault! Because of you Itachi is in pain! He is injured and you don't even care! I knew demons were heartless but to think that it would go as far as this! What kind of a brother are you!?" Even I was surprised about the amount of venom in his words.

"Deidara!"

Oddly I felt nothing as Itachi shouted and turned to fully look at us, his eyes black as the night sky. maybe it was because of Deidara's words but for the first time I noticed just how tired my brother looked. Was it true? Was he suffering, because of me?

I felt a sting inside me, like a needle would have just penetrated me and landed somewhere in my gut.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?! Why won't you let me help you, why won't you trust me like did before?! What about the promise you made with me?!" The last words were screamed so loud that my ears almost started ringing. I had never heard someone yell at my brother like that, his voice now covered with anger, hurt and something else I couldn't put in place. The warm look that they had shared before the dinner had now vanished, like it never existed. All that was left was silence that stretched onward. It was Deidara's voice that finally put and end to it.

"You know what, I screw this. There is no point talking with you."

With those words Deidara walked past me and grabbed his jacket before storming out, letting the door slam shut behind him with such force that I could feel the slight shake that it caused. He was rather strong for a human.

"Sasuke." There it was, that tone what I had been waiting for.

"Stay inside this apartment." It was not a command I had been hoping for but it left no room for complains. I am not a fool, I know what he is capable of. I have seen it with my own eyes.

"I will be back before sunrise." With those final words Itachi walked past me, his long hair framing his face, giving him shadows that seemed to wrap around him like a cloak, and I could tell, he was agitated. For what I was not sure but that small part of me hoped that I would not be the one to receive his wrath if he decided to unleash it. That was why, until he had completely left the apartment, my body wouldn't move or even breath. Even the click of the door was not enough for me to relax. Only when his aura had fainted away almost completely, I let my muscles release the tension they had been holding.

Until sunrise he said. Well I better use that time usefully.

…

* * *

…

It had been hours now since Deidara and Itachi had left the apartment, just how long I wasn't fully sure, I still wasn't very interested to follow the time that every human here seemed to be so obsessed with. All I knew was that since they had left the sun had gone down and all the light had disappeared, except that manmade light that came from outside the apartment.

996…

I could still hear occasional cars driving part the building but as the time passed even those noises became rare, just like the voices of humans speaking to each other's.

997…

I had always liked the night and the peace it brought.

998…

Father had said that our clan was the straight descendant of the original king of the demon world, that was why we were so powerful, almost invincible. He had taken great pride on our heritage.

999…

He had also told me that it was because of that heritage and the abilities we received, that when the shadows of the night would be the darkest, our senses would truly become alive.

999…

I could feel that it was almost the time…

1000.

Just when I finished the last of my usual training, ending it with pushups done with one finger, the pointer of the clock reached the number 12. It was midnight.

Fluidly I jumped on my heels and took a deep breath, allowing all the sounds and smells around me reach me. This was the time when I felt some of the control that I had lost long time ago now return to me.

With each breath I took, I could feel the air work its way to my muscles as I relaxed. The slight tingle in my skin, along with the alertness that reached in every fiber of my being, made me shiver each time. I did not need to see anymore so I let my eyes fall closed, reaching out and seeing the world around me with my aura rather than with my eyes. After all, eyes could be deceived or even blocked from seeing everything that was happening.

For as long as I could remember this moment had been my most sincere comfort, source of strength when I felt powerless, thrown aside for being useless and left without food or water for unknown amounts of time. This feeling was beyond anything else, even the victory of death itself.

"Let's see what is happening tonight…" It was a whisper meant for no one. I usually didn't speak while I was training my senses but tonight there was no one around me, at least not in clear hearing range, so I let myself enjoy it. I rarely felt the need to speak but I also know how complete silence can affect ones vocal cords. I don't want my voice to become useless in those times I do need to speak.

"Yesterday I reached for the main city, tonight let's take the opposite." I mumbled and gathered my aura closer to me in order to send part of it toward special destination. It was the same as reaching a hand forward, except this hand could make me see around me and not just feel. The way that I could "see" was not the same thought. There was no colors, everything was either black and white or in different shades of grey. You needed a lot of practice to use it properly and make it obey you.

I could remember reading about beings living in the deep waters that use sound to see around them in this world, sonar system, I figured that my ability probably resembled partly of something like that. After all, my aura could also reach much beyond bodily limits, much more.

When we had stayed here the first night Itachi had noticed my little practice and seemed actually curious and actually came to talk to me about it, which was unusual. He had seemed even little impressed of my control over my aura and the way I could manipulate it. He told me that as long as I kept it with such low level I could continue doing it. He explained that even if human's couldn't control their own, they could still feel it, for them it felt like a warm summer breeze when we used it gently and to search calmly the area around us but if we used it for compact or when we become angry or otherwise upset it would turn cold, feeling like an icy winter breeze after the rain.

That was why I took a deep breath to make sure I was completely calm and in control as I reached further and further away but soon even those thoughts left me as I studied the world where Itachi had brought me but kept me from fully going. It felt like I was the one traveling those nearly empty streets, running both in the open and in the shadows, taking everything in all of those buildings, both small and tall as well as the trees or plants in the area. I could hear laughter somewhere in the distance and felt my aura take a sharp turn toward the more open space. I recognized it to be the park that me and Itachi had passed when we first came here.

I had wondered where it was since I had not seen it since then, it seems that itachi had taken me to the opposite directions the only time we had gone out and that had been today. The park was not really far I realized, just short walking distance away. Curiously I decided to reach my aura over the park, to see how pig it actually was and if it would be suitable for the sparring that I had earlier been thinking about to ask Itachi about. Among with that thought there was also something else that made me reach toward the place, something what I couldn't describe. It made me raise my stakes and instead of just rushing through the place, approach the park slowly and carefully.

Never would I have imagined that my little spark of curiosity would soon turn into something much more.

As I lowered the main stream of my aura closer to the ground, continuing among the dirt road that went through the whole place, splitting into two or into three different roads on the way, I could sense that there were several presences somewhere near.

"Hold him."

There.

I quickly turned, reaching on the side of the park where the street lights didn't reach.

"How careless of you, didn't mother tell you that you shouldn't walk around after dark? There are bad people around, you know?" It was a human voice, male, and it held a mocking tone that reminded me too much of few of my acquaintance's that I had come to come across while living in my father's castle.

Normally I wouldn't have bothered with people, they offered no amusement for me, at least not this time of night but there was something that I noticed out of experience. There, hidden in the middle of biggest trees, stood five humans. Four out of those five seemed to have trapped the fifth, holding their victim still. They seemed liike predators, ready to take action in order to prevent that their prey wasn't about to escape. All of them grinning with aura that promised nothing pleasant for the captured one.

I could have easily turned and left, I should have left, and they wouldn't have never even known that someone had seen them. It didn't concern me what those four men were going to do to the fifth one that two of them were holding, but for some reason I didn't leave, I stayed and watched.

The two men that were holding the one where much bigger than he was, or she, I couldn't really tell since the humans head was being pushed down, probably to make him or her feel even more vulnerable. It was common knowledge after all for those that enjoyed toying with life's of other's. Fear makes your opponents brains shut down, blocking the calculative mind and all that remained are instincts. Sometimes thought, that would prove to be more dangerous for the attacker than the one being attacked. Right at the moment thought the chance's that the captured one could get away seemed rather small. Those four men seemed to know what they were doing.

I moved slowly around the humans, studying their stance's and letting my mind progress all that was happening. Especially the victim. Upon closer look, I found that the fift human seemed to lack the figure recuired to obtain the status of a female, that would only mean that he was a young man. Interesting. He seemed much smaller, thinner than the other's, and the position he were forced, couldn't be without pain on his back that was bend and arms that were trapped in the grushing hold of two men holding him. I could hear no complains or sound of discomfort thought, maybe this was not the firts time for him either.

What I had also taken notice was that the more I looked the more frgile looking human, the more curious I found myself becoming and that I realised only for the fack that I had seemed to come even closer to him in order to see his face.

For the fack that seeing everything through my aura made me unable to see any colors, I could only take quesses of the details like that. The only indication after all of where the different shade's of grey's. That was one of the reasons I had started to practice the using of my aura, to be able to tell what shade would be the clousest to the color in represented. By the look of it, the captured human seemed to have really light hair as it almost seemed white to me, it made the dark spot on his head only to stand out more. It was probably blood. That and the dark spots on his skin indicated a that there had been a fight before I had noticed them. His t-shirt seemed dirty also and so did his trousers, jeans it seemed.

"Now now, there is no reason for you to be so angry. We just wanna chat a little pit." The man that had spoken earlier said as he calmly walked in front of their prey, seeming to wait for struggle or words of hatred. That would have been expected.

When the man was met only by silence his smile faded away, a frown taking place on his face instead.

"Seems to me that he still thinks he can just pretent that we don't exist. Little motherfucker." One of the men standing near the captured man said and spit next to his feet.

"We will see about that." The one who seemed like their leader, the one standing infront of the victim, said. Slowly the smirk that had appeared on his face earlier, came back.

"You know, I really dislike it when people ignore me. Especially one's like you. It kinda makes me almost... wanting to be cruel. Just because you have a pretty face, doesn't mean that you are better than us."

"That's right!"

Lackeys, disgusting.

"Shut up Dave."

Good, even the leader was annoyed by his follower's outburst.

"Now, where was I. Ah yes. I was talking about your pretty little face. Sorry for the hit by the way, Mike here doesn't know how to handle ladies." The leader said and the other's snickered, all of their eyes locked to the still unmoving human male in their hold. When there was still no answer their smiles seemed to face a little.

"I don't think he still understands his place Boss. Maybe we should have a another "talk" wth him." The one named Dave said and both him and the leader grinned wider.

"Yes, maybe we should. But in order to have a talk, one should be on equal terms." The leader said and then turned to the one's holding the young man.

"Raise him. I want to be able to look into his eyes while we "speak"."

The two men complied immediately, not really letting but more like forcing the male to straighten his back and stand straight again but keeping tight hold of him still. That hair of his still covered his eyes thought.

"Now, let me just move those away. You have such pretty eyes, I bet they look even more stunning with tears in them." The leader snickered as he took a few steps closer, now being eble to reach out his hand toward the shorter and younger male's face.

In that moment everything seemed to happen slower than it should have.

The movement of that rough hand as it reached the left side of the captured one's face, finger's moving so that they could push the locks of hair aside, captured my attention. I could tell that the leader was mocking their victim by trying to be almost gentle but it held no difference. How such a simple gesture had become so meaningless was something I could not understand, holding all the one's watching prisoners, but when the leaders hand moved aside I found my breath caught in my throat.

In my world that should have nor been nothing but black, white and grey I was met something that shouldn't have existed here. Unknown to me my body that stood still in the apartment many blocks away, shivered.

Those eyes, they were blue.

…

* * *

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I hope you liked it! Naruto made his first appear, yay! But Sorry for the cliff hanger thought : 3 I just couldn't resist!

Author note: I am trying my best to make Sasuke as innocent as possible, taking also note of his background in this story. When you are a demon that has been raised as a weapon rather than a living being you are, in my opinion, pound to be cold and calculative but ignorant of the meaning and even the existing of your own feelings like a little child. I want him to explore both the world and himself, slowly evolving as the time goes on. It will take time before the walls around him will start to grumble but like you can see, there are things that he also starts to enjoy already. In his own way of course.

Sorry that the chapter wasn't from Naruto's point of view. I started this chapter that way first but I didn't feel that it suited the storyline just yet. Turned out that I also like writing this in sasuke's POV xD

Please leave a review behind if you want to read more of this story I will be open for suggestions for what is going to happen in the next chapter! And please tell me if you wish to see what happened to Itachi and Deidara as well.

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	5. The hidden pain

Hello everyone! It has been a while, a lot longer than I intended and I am sorry for that. I started this chapter almost immediately after I finished the last one but at some point I came to think that it was not good enough. That's why I ended up reading all of your reviews, wondering what I should do and then the idea came to me. Because I am trying to be a good little author, who tries to listen at his darling readers (who have given me so much happiness) I decided to give you what many of you seem to desire; more of Itachi and Deidara!

I decided to put the chapter that I already half wrote to the side for now and give you a little inside of these two.

**Note!** : This chapter takes place soon after Deidara and Itachi left the apartment so you could say that we are going back in time a little, actually in more ways than just the one ;)

I really hope you like it.

**PS**. If by any change some of you are reading my other stories also, like I am the Hokage, then I want to inform you that I am working on the next chapter and that I am terribly sorry it is taking me so long to update it! It's just that it is a rather difficult chapter and it's going to be a long one so it needs a lot more work done than I anticipated.

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**The Demon who never cried**

Chapter 5 : The hidden pain

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The hot day had changed into evening that filled the city with many kinds of people; the ones that were hungry and looking for a place to get a good meal with reasonable price, maybe even passing by those that had already got their share and were now enjoying their time with friends. Laughter could be heard almost in every corner where pubs and restaurants stood, table's placed in the terraces outside. Enjoying the setting sun and the colors it brought in the sky, making a sharp contrast with the golden light and the shadows that had started to deepen.

There was, thought, a one man that didn't feel like laughing or admiring the beauty of the evening, not in the least. In fact, he was ready to unleash his anger at anyone brave enough to violate his personal space.

That anger on the long haired man's face was not because of work that he still needed to do, his hands hold no suitcase after all as they were tightly wrapped against his chest as he walked along the streets, his eyes sharp and unforgiving if someone would even dear to look at him.

It had barely been 10 minutes since Deidara had left his apartment, too angry to deal with the shit that seemed to be his life.

A sound almost like a growl left his lips, his teeth pressed together so hard it was no wonder if few of them would crack. It was a miracle he had not set anything on fire yet or better, blown his anger at some random person who trespassed his personal space by a millimeter. Oh god how much he wanted to hit someone.

He had proven it more times than he could count, no matter how weak or girly he looked in other people's eyes, he could take on men twice his size. Even several opponents. And it was all thanks to…

"That stupid Itachi!" If his sudden loud yelling didn't attract attention, his kick on the trashcan did. It gave him a mild satisfaction to see the dent he had made on the metal and how it had fallen on the side, spilling its contents on the street. He wanted to do it again.

An elderly woman's snort made him stop thought.

"Hooligan." The words were clearly spoken loud enough for him to hear and suddenly Deidara was very aware of all the eye's that had fallen on him.

"If only you knew…" The words were spoken too quietly for anyone to hear, his hair falling to cover his face as he turned and headed toward the darkening alley, leaving the people whisper and chatter among each other's how the youngsters now a days were ruining their own life's by alcohol and drugs, ruining their future along the way. It brought a small sad smile on his lips, one that only appeared when the memories of the past came back to him, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. Hidden among the shadows, just like the rest of him.

"Dei?"

A sudden voice broke the blond out of his thoughts, making him stop on his tracks. He knew that voice.

"Long time no seen." There was no mistaking on that husky, raspy sound of that voice. He should have known, this was near Their territory, yet he could not help the small smirk that formed on his lips that he would meet a small part of his past right when he had been thinking about it, in a place none the less that suited their meeting more than well, in a dirty backstreet when the sun was about to set.

"Yeah, it's been a while. How have you been, Zetsu?" He didn't really need to play any games here, not with this guy, but he couldn't help it. The memories were still vivid.

The small laugh that followed, if you could call it that, sounded more like a broken record, a twisted part of a song that should not have been there. Deidara had never really liked the guy, not in any part of the time they had knew each other's. They had merely tolerated each other's for reasons that he did not wish to think about at the moment but what he couldn't really block out anyway, that laugh had always made the hair on the pack of his neck rise up. It almost sounded like the man who always stayed deep in the shadows, just like now, was drowning on his own blood.

"Trying to be polite? That's something new. Not really your style, Deidara, but taken at how many years it's been, maybe I should not be so surprised."

The grin on Deidara's lips only widened but he still refused to turn to look at the man leaning lazily on the stone wall on his left. They didn't really need to see each other's face's, never had, never would. They could hear everything from the other's tone of voice, from the hidden meaning of the words that seemed so innocent and yet were anything but.

"Yeah, I guess so. So, tell me, how are everyone?" Deidara didn't really expect the other to answer, not after everything that had happened and so he could not help but to turn his head slightly toward the other when he spoke again.

"They are okay I guess. I know me, I hardly ever see any of them. The boss likes to keep me away from the base and I don't really mind. I have my own job to do." The man said and just now Deidara noticed the puffs of smoke coming from the shadows, barely visible and yet capturing his attention completely.

"When did you start smoking?" It was difficult to keep his surprise inside, hidden from the other, and something told Deidara that this time he had not completely managed to do it properly. He could practically hear the inhale the other took of his cigarette and then slowly blow it out. He could feel the tension grow.

"Soon after you left."

It was an another admit that Deidara had not expected to hear.

"You know, I still can't believe that the boss just let you go." Even if Zetsu's voice was calm, Deidara could read the unsaid part loud and clear; I wouldn't have.

It was not a question, hardly even a statement, it was an unspoken threat.

"Neither do I." It was half truth, half a lie. Deidara knew exactly why he had been able to walk away the way he did, but it really didn't matter. Neither did the fact that the man next to him might have actually known too, it would have actually explained why there was still no blood on the ground.

The silence was heavy between them as they just stood there, waiting for the other to brake the silence, both in a stance that was both relaxed and ready for an attack at the same time.

The next inhale that Zetsu took out of his cigarette seemed almost hypnotizing and even if Deidara didn't see it, he could well picture the red and orange spot brightening in the darkness for a moment.

"You know, it's kinda dangerous for a guy like you to be walking out here, all alone in the dark. I am not the only one who has been… thinking of you." The words that came out after the puff of smoke had changed into something considerably colder, making Zetsu's raspy voice sound almost menacing in its tone. But it was not the words or the tone that made Deidara's body tense up and his mind playing out all the possible scenarios what could soon occur. No, it was the way the cigarette was dropped into a small puddle of water, making one last hissing sound as the small light died out.

It meant that Zetsu's hands were now free, free to be used in any way he decided.

Deidara silently cursed himself inside his mind, of his own stupidity. How could he had forgotten his own rules he had set up when his life had turned and changed into something so different? How could he have forgotten the promises those people had made to him, along the one's he had made himself.

But the game was still on.

"We are not on Their lands, this is not Their territory." Deidara was sure to keep his voice steady and as calm as he could, he had to keep his cool. He was alone in a narrow space, with someone that no doubt still held harsh feelings toward him. He could not appear weak, not even the tiniest pit. One wrong move, one wrong words and the alley would get its crimson color.

"I know." It was almost impossible to say what was going on inside the other's mind but Deidara doubted that it was something he wanted to hear. Neither was the sound of the water splashing slightly. Zetsu had done that on purpose, Deidara knew it, he wanted to let Deidara know that he was now standing, instead of just leaning on the wall.

"If you start a fight here…"

"So what? No one needs to know." Zetsu interrupted, cutting Deidara off. It was never a good sign. Zetsu was a person who could be easily described as composed, his face always unreadable and his actions very subtler. It was offsetting that a man like that would not let the other to finish his sentence. It made Deidara wonder what had exactly happened to him, to the others.

"The boss will know. HE will know." Just as fast as the tension on him had build up, Deidara now felt himself relax considerably.

The wind that blow past them, felt almost warm on Deidara's skin. He felt his confidence return.

"Do you really want to take the risk?" Deidara asked, his voice now light as feather as he sensed the familiar presence. He really had a way to appear always at the right time.

With a small snigger Deidara turned his eyes to look at his former acquaintance, or more like the shadows that hided his entire figure, and grinned.

"It was nice talking to you Zetsu." Deidara could not help but feel relief when he saw that Zetsu had also noticed the third person that had appeared on the alley, no doubt now standing few feets away and behind Deidara. Hidden in the shadows in a way that gave his appearance away enough that those who had seen him before, could now recognize him.

After a moment of tense silence, Zetsu seemed to make up his mind. When Deidara saw Zetsu turning and starting to walk away, keeping himself near the wall on the way, and not bothering to say another wordDeidara could not help but to raise his hand on a small wave. A grin still on placeIt was not until Zetsu almost reached the other end of the alley when he suddenly stopped and slowly turned halfway around.

"If I were you, I would be more careful where I walked. There are other's that are not as… understanding as I am. I doubt even your bodyguard can always come to your aid." He said, his voice slightly echoing in the alley even if with a voice like that it shouldn't have been possible, and before any reply could be given, Zetsu was gone. It was a talent Deidara had been jealous of, to be able to disappear in a blink of an eye. No one then or since had been able to puzzle Deidara with a talent like that, not any human at least.

"If you expect me to say thanks, you can forget it." The words that left Deidara's mouth were said with a harsh tone, not as harsh as Zetsu's but they still carried an undeniable hint of anger in them. It had not been long enough for the blond to forget his hurt and he was not going to mask it, not even if his lover had come to his aid in a time that his mere presence brought an end to a questionable situation.

"Dei…" The nickname was said quietly, almost like a whisper but Deidara knew better. When this man wanted something, no one could escape. Even if it was just to talk.

It just happened that, among many things, talking was something that the blond had always disliked.

"Just leave me be for now Itachi. I don't want to see you right now." Deidara knew that he was being selfish, even childish, but he pushed the small nagging sound into the back of his mind. He had been told countless times again and again of how stubborn he sometimes could be and he quessed that this time was one of those.

"I do not think that is a wise idea, Dei." Somehow the always calm voice of his lover, suddenly irritated the blond more than it maybe should have. Making his anger raise even more, making him imperceptibly bite his teeth hard together and his finger nails press hard against the skin on his palm, forming a fist that spoke volumes about his shape of mind for the one that was silently watching him.

"And why the fuck not, Itachi?" Deidara snapped, turning his whole body around with a quick move that made his long hair swing once, stopping then to once again to cover half of his face. If his earlier tone had been harsh, it was now oozing with rage, ready to be set free. Yet he knew in the back of his mind what would be the outcome. They both knew already how this was going to end but neither of them wanted to initiate it. There was pain that needed to be let out and the main piece of it didn't belong to the one who showed his own part.

"You know very well why." For anyone else, this man, man clouded with mysteries and secrets, was unreadable: Enigma in his existence. Except for one, that was.

As the silence fell over the two, the time seemed to both move and stay still in the same time. It had always been the same with them.

Neither of them could deny the time that was forever moving, constantly changing, but its importance was not the same for them as it was for others. Time was something that was always present, always existing, but more importantly, it was something that neither of them could influence.

For that, every second that went by, giving them one moment after another to stare at each other and think, it also gave them a change to came into terms of their current situation.

"Zetsu was smoking Itachi…" Deidara spoke finally, his voice loosing its edge as both his mind and body had come to calm down.

"He… he hated cigarettes back then, even the smell made him nauseous. He admitted it to me a long time ago, before I had even met you, you know, when we were still… innocent. I don't claim that I know him, knew him, but I know enough to tell you that something must have happened… Something big, that he would have started such a habit."

It hurt more than Deidara wanted to admit. Hurt to think that there was a chance that his decisions, his actions, may have caused agony for the people he had considered his family even.

"I am… worried about them. About the others." But even so, he knew that he could tell anything to his lover, to the man that he… would do anything for.

"All of them?"

"No. Just… him." The words left his mouth before he realized that he was talking out loud. It was a slip on his tongue, rare enough to make Deidara embarrassed enough to turn his eyes to the side.

" I know, I know… It's stupid since he can definitely take care of himself, he isn't a weakling but I just… I can't help it. He helped me, he was my friend and partner and he…"

"You miss him." It was not a question, just a statement but it held a deeper meaning into it. Something that Deidara could not, for once, understand. And yet he knew that it was there. After all, every word Itachi always spoke, had a meaning in them.

It made him nervous.

"Don't worry, I understand. It's like you said, he was your friend. He protected you, and for that I am in forever grateful for him. But…" Even in the darkness Deidara could feel those eyes watching him, studying him, analyzing him but it had been a long time since his stare could It only made his skin tingle, in a way that no one else was able to.

It didn't matter what the dark haired man said, it didn't matter if he was quiet. After all, even if he was swallowed by the darkest shadows to the point that only part of silhouette could be seen, the knowledge that he was near was enough to make the human reach out his own senses to him. Right now, when his sight was almost denied from him, he trusted in his hearing. Because he trusted him.

"Because I understand, I believe that so do you: The reason why I can't let you see him."

A single step was heard, even if faintly.

"Do I?" The question was said just as quietly as the second step was taken.

"Do you?" There could have been hundreds of people, packed in the narrow alley and the two of them wouldn't have even noticed.

"It's your decision, Dei. Always was, always will be." Itachi whispered, his steps stopping him just an arm reach away, the faint light of the end of the alley behind Deidara reaching out just enough to show how his dark eyes locked into the blue that looked him with such love that it softened his own features.

Those words, it had been a long time ago when Itachi had said them the first time but Deidara still remembered them, clear as the cloudless summer sky. It brought a small, gentle smile to the corners of his lips.

"You don't have to remind me." He whispered, not braking their eye contact but unable to keep his eyes fully open. To have him so near, yet so far, was always such a wonderful feeling: feeling of undeniable pull, of cohesiveness.

This time it was Deidara who took one step closer.

"Do you remember what I said? Back then…" It was a stupid question in its own way, when you thought about the person who it was presented at, but Deidara could help it, the moment was far too perfect.

"Of course."

"And what did I say?"

"That… You would follow me, to the hell and back if you must." Itachi answered, the corners of his own lips now lifting up just so slightly and among the gentle edge of his tone, there appeared to be something else also: amusement.

"I meant it, still do." Deidara whispered, his voice dropping an octave as he lifted his chin, their lips now close enough to feel the other's breath caressing their skin, blending together, just like their fate had.

But it was over in a heartbeat.

"And yet you keep me in the darkness. Deny me the answers and even the truth." Deidara snapped, pushing back so suddenly that Itachi's eye's widened slightly, his head pulling back an inch when he was met now with eyes that were now full of hurt, anger and even betrayal instead of the warm love they had been filled with just a moment ago.

"Dei…"

"Do not give me any more excuses Itachi! I want the truth, the raw truth. You should know me better. You should know that you never need to sugarcoat anything for me, I have seen far too much to give a crap about sneaking around the pushes. I have told you everything, and I mean everything, about me and the life that I had and I plan to continue to do so. It's part of the promise we maid. It's about time you do your own share." there were far too many emotions now playing in Deidara's voice now for even himself to know what was the leading one. Was it hurt? Sadness? Worry? In the end it didn't matter, only the answer did.

When the silence only continued Deidara knew that the truth that he so much desired, was something that he might not in the end even want to hear.

"Open up your shit." Even so, that didn't stop him.

In any other time the nature of the situation taking place would have been maybe something to joke about but now as Itachi's pale and slender finger's started to work on the buttons of the dark dress shirt he was wearing, both of them found only the tension grow and nothing else.

Deidara only vaguely wondered when Itachi had changed into a shirt like that, last time he remembered the man had wore the black simple t-shirt he had borrowed from the blond. It wouldn't actually have surprised the blond all that much if Itachi had anticipated all of this, the demand that the blond would make, and decided to change into something more approving for the task that he indeed now was in.

When the last button finally came undone, the strong and smooth chest represented before his eye Deidara frowned, lifting his hard stare from the sight before him back to the eye's that betrayed nothing.

"Now, show me. And for the name of everything you hold dear, do not deceive me by withholding a single scratch." Unlike the last ones, these world were not said with a tone that spoke of barely hidden anger, no, these words were said with an authority what was strong enough to make lesser man kneel before him.

"Do not make me use IT." The words were almost spat out, like they brought a disgusting taste in the blonde's mouth and in a way they did. But not because of the meaning of the words, it was because he had been, in a way, forced to say them, to remind Itachi of something the man should be fully aware of.

When there was still no change in the other, in every sense of the sentence, Deidara's eye's closed for a moment and a beep sight left his lips, allowing the air become less heavy between them.

He should have known better than to think that this kind of approach would bring him the results he desired.

"Do you not trust me anymore?" It took every cell of his being to replace the sharp edge of his tone, to softer both of his voice and his whole being, to let the feelings he hardly kept hidden from Itachi to now show in every fiber of his existence.

It was time for the anger to be forgotten and let the worry and sadness be truly free. To show the worry only those who truly cared, about to be shown for the ones they were meant to.

When the two pairs of eyes met again, unaware of the time they had parted, the words that were not said out loud, were now understood.

"Yes, I do." The soft answer brought relief that Deidara had waited for a long time now and when those dark eye's closed for the first time after their conversation had started, the blue ones stared at the sight that shook his whole being.

Even in the darkness, and probably partly because of it, he could see how the white skin of his lover changed. The flawless skin now gaining colors that didn't suit it at all, colors that only served to point out the true extend of the damage that was still mostly hidden by the piece of clothing Deidara both detested and thanked for existing at the same time.

With a quick step Deidara was next to Itachi, pulling the shirt open and finding his sight becoming blurry from the rage and tears that threatened to escape.

He closed his mouth firmly in order to let any sound to escape him either but when his other hand left the other side of the shirt, reaching out instead to touch the black and purple skin that he knew had used to be strong chest, Deidara shivered.

From that on his fingers seemed to form a life of their own, a mind of their own, as they gently caressed the skin that felt far too cold for his liking. He watched out for not touching the many scars that laid before him, grafted in the other like marks of some hideous crime. How the man was still standing was a question that kept flashing before his eyes when he took in one wound after another, from mere lines of almost innocent looking scratches to the deep and open wounds that were wide enough for the flesh to be shown underneath the skin.

Deidara felt his legs grow weak and his stomach cramp painfully when he imagined what else lay hidden from his eyes, from anyone's eyes.

"Oh my god… Itachi…" The tears that filled his eye's to the point that there was no possibility to stop them from falling, gave him the strength he need in order to speak.

"What happened?... Why, why aren't you regenerating?" It was almost impossible to keep his voice from shaking Deidara noted, just like it was impossible to sound anything else than the broken mess he felt he was at the moment. Helpless and useless before the one he loved, infront of the damage that had been done.

"He cursed me Deidara. He cursed me when he had already fallen, his own blood turning already cold in his veins, when I did the mistake of turning around and letting my eyes leave him. It was all he needed. He cursed me with his last breath." Somehow, the calm voice of Itachi was able to bring him back enough to look at his eyes, pleading him to tell him everything, begging him to let him help him.

"Why?" Deidara gasped, his eye's clouding again before he could stop them as he watched his lover's face, unable to look anywhere else than the debts of soul filled with far more pain than anyone should ever be allowed to carry.

He knew there far too many things to ask, to be answered, but this one was the one he wanted to hear before any other.

"Why did you turn around?" It was hardly even a whisper and yet it sounded far too loud in the suffocating silence that surrounded them.

When that silence was broken by Itachi's quiet voice, almost too gentle and fragile for Deidara to bear, the blond could almost hear a sound that reminded him of a glass broking, sound that came from somewhere inside of him.

"Because I heard him, Deidara, I heard Sasuke calling out to me."

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And here you go! The first chapter done with just Itachi and Deidara. How was it? Did you like it enough to want to read more? Please tell me because from your comments I will decide how I will continue with these two. Do they continue to have their own part of private chapters or do I go back to the way I started, writing them more like on the side. It's all up to you, my darling readers! ;)

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